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Wednesday, September 16, 2020

Jews Living Within Turkey's Ottoman Empire and Today's Turkey

Nadene Goldfoot                                         

By the time that Turkey established their Empire, called the Ottoman Empire in 1517, Jews had been around for some time, as Mizrachi Jews.   This part of the world is Asia Minor, and a synagogue was in their old capital of BRUSA by  the year 1326.  The Turks were conquering land, and took over many other important Jewish communities.  The climax from 1520-1566 under Suleiman the Magnificant  came with the capture of SALONICA in 1430 and of CONSTANTINOPLE, the Byzantine Empire's capital (from Roman Empire who had become Christians) , in 1453  Constantinople  was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 CE and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold and the seat of the Ottoman Caliphate. Under the name Constantinople it was the Ottoman capital until 1923. The capital was then moved to Ankara and the city was renamed Istanbul.

Jews had been present in Byzantium days, renamed Constantinople since the 4th century.  They had been forcibly converted to Christianity in 640, 721, and 873.   Jews suffered with their Emperor Justinian (527-565) with his anti-Jewish laws in his Code.  Then Emperor Heraclius in 614 issued an e dict ordering the conversion of Jews..  Judaism was then forbidden by the following emperors, and were treated with contempt in Constantinople.  Jews remained as 3rd class people until Constantine was conquered by the Turks in  1453.  Constantine the Great, also known as Constantine I, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337. Born in Naissus, Dacia Mediterranea, he was the son of Flavius Constantius, an Illyrian army officer who became one of the four emperors of the Tetrarchy. His mother, Helena, was Greek and of low birth.  It was she who went to Palestine searching for artifacts and such, and caused her son to convert, which turned the Roman Empire into Byzantium.  

Modern nations that comprise lands once part of the Byzantine Empire include, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Israel (and areas contested by Palestinians), Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, Cyprus, Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine (As well as Russian annexed South Crimea), Moldova, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Italy (including Sicily), Greece, France (Corsica), and Malta.

At their height, the countries the Ottoman Empire took over were Greece, Bulgaria, Egypt, Hungary, Macedonia, Romania, (Jordan, Palestine), Lebanon, Syria, some of Arabia, and the north African coastal strip.  

After 1492 and Spain's ultimatum of Jews either converting to Catholicism or getting out of the country, the sultans opened the gates of the Ottoman Empire generously to the refugees from Spain, and then Portugal and other lands, and the Turkish Jewish community, now predominantly made  up of Sephardi Jews, became of great importance to this new empire.

Jews were favored people looked upon, and rightly so, as a valuable trading and artisan element and also as a counterpoise to the potentially disloyal Christian minorities.  Flourishing were the communities of Istanbul  (CONSTANTINOPLE), ADRIANOPLE, SMYRNA (Izmir), and especially SALONICA where the intellectual traditions of Sephardi Jewry were centered.  

Palestine had become part of the Ottoman Empire since 1517 along with Egypt, Yemen, Iraq, etc.  The sultans applied the normal Moslem code against the Jews but not strictly.  That was of being treated as 2nd class citizens or Dhimmis.  The same treatment was given to Christians as well.  
                                                           

Joseph Nasi and Solomon Ashkenazi were able to exercise great influence in the state. Joseph (1520-1579) was born as Joao Miguez,  a Marrano in Portugal, a hidden Jew, whose parents had to fake a baptism and acceptance of Christianity who had remained faithful to being Jewish.   He was the nephew and son-in-law of Dona Gracia  Nasi (1510-1569). He had become a statesman and financier.  He had joined his aunt Dona Gracia in 1554 in Constantinople where he embraced Judaism publicly and then married Gracia's daughter, Reyna.  He had a wide knowledge of European affairs, so obtained an entree to the Turkish court and became an intimate of Selim, the heir to the throne. This was  during the rules of both Sultan Suleiman I and his son Selim II.  In 1561, he received from the sultan a lease of Tiberias in Palestine and the area next to it which he planned to develop as an autonomous Jewish center.  When Selim became sultan in 1566, Joseph Nasi became Duke of Naxos and the Cyclades, "the premier duchy of Christendom."  
                                                             

Naxos is a Greek island in the South Aegean, the largest of the Cyclades island group. Its fertile landscape spans mountain villages, ancient ruins and long stretches of beach. The namesake capital (also called Hora or Chora) is a port town filled with whitewashed, cube-shaped houses and medieval Venetian mansions. Kastro, a hilltop castle dating to the 13th century, houses an archaeological museum.
                                                        Promised the crown of Cyprus by the sultan if the island became Turkish, and it did,  he was partly responsible for the breach with Venice and the disastrous Cyprus war of 1570-1573.  Cyprus, is an island country in the Eastern Mediterranean. The third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, it is located south of Turkey; west of Syria and Lebanon; north of EgyptIsrael, and the Palestinian region of the Gaza Strip; and southeast of Greece.  Cyprus was under three centuries of Ottoman rule between 1571 and 1878 (de jure until 1914).

Then he was appointed viovode (Voivode, Vojvoda or Wojewoda, etc. is a Slavic title denoting a "war-leader" or "warlord" in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe since the Early Middle Ages. During the Byzantine Empire it referred to military commanders mainly of Slavic populations.)of Wallahia.Wallachia or Walachia is a historical and geographical region of Romania. It is situated north of the Lower Danube and south of the Southern Carpathians. Wallachia is traditionally divided into two sections, Muntenia and Oltenia.  His power waned.  His widow established a Hebrew printing press after his death at her palace of Belvedere outside Constantinople.  Several works were published under her care in 1592 to 1599.  
                                                     
Sultan Mehmed II 1480

Solomon ben Nathan Ashkenazi (1520-1602) was a Turkish physician and diplomat. Ashkenazi was born in Udine, Italy which was located in NE Italy, to Jewish parents of German origin. He studied medicine at the University of Padua and trained as a rabbi... Following the expulsion of the Jews from Udine in 1556, Ashkenazi traveled to CracowPoland to serve as chief physician to King Sigismund II Augustus   By 1564 he had moved to Turkey, where he entered the service of the grand vizier, Mehemet Sokolli, who hired him in peace negotiations with Venice after the battle of Lepanto.  In 1574 he was sent to Venice again as Turkish ambassador on a special mission.  On his return to Constantinople, he continued to be one of the most influential persons at Court.  

Solomon advised the grand duke of Tuscany (Italy) on policy and was partly responsible for the election of Henri de Valois to the Polish throne in 1573.  Later he tried to secure the election of the duke of Ferrara.  In 1591, he was involved in the appointment of a new ruler in Moldavia.  

After the 16th century, things got worse for Jews.  Anti-Jewish restrictions were applied more rigidly, but there was no general reaction.  The peudo-messianic movement of Shabbetai Tzevi could be looked upon as a reaction, though. and this event could have entailed charges of disloyalty, but didn't change the Jews' position, but it did weaken it spiritually.  

Down to the 19th century, nothing had changed, although its treatment no longer seemed enlightened as compared with other countries.  It had become the 3rd largest Jewish community in the world after Russia and Austro-Hungary's Ashkenazi Jews, numbering 350,000 in 1900.  

Word was that the Ottoman Empire had spent its wealth on luxury items and women.  It was probably the War that exhausted their funds.  They chose the wrong side.  
                                                       

Germany entered into World War I on August 1, 1914, when it declared war on Russia. In accordance with its war plan, it ignored Russia and moved first against France–declaring war on August 3 and sending its main armies through Belgium to attack Paris from the north. ... Most of the main parties were now at war.

World War I started in 1914, ending in 1918 when the Ottoman Empire joined Germany and together, they lost the war.  The Turkish Empire had been gradually disintegrating and their numbers of the Jewish population in the Balkans and under other authorities waned as their life had become worse.  The Allies now were the masters of the land previously held by the Ottoman Empire.  The Turks got to keep Turkey.  

Turkey was then reorganized on nationalistic line, with the former minorities largely disappearing through the exchange of population with Greece.  In the remaining territories, the position of Turkish Jewry, no longer an especially favored minority but from certain points of view a recalcitrant one, was more difficult.  There was discrimination, actual rather than legal, and 37,000 Jews emigrated to Israel after 1948.  

Remaining in Turkey were Jews who numbered 20,000 in 1990.  18,000 were living in Istanbul with 1,500 in Izmir, and smaller communities in Edime, Brusa, and Ankara.  The spiritual and cultural distinction of the former days, has ended.  
                                                      

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the present president of Turkey, is no Suleiman the Magnificant, though he may think he is trying to be.   It's he who has become a very recalcitrant person to all, and especially to Israel.  This current office-holder  has held the office since 28 August 2014. Since 9 July 2018, Erdoğan is serving as the first executive president, consistent with a presidential system.  The office of the president of Turkey was established with the proclamation of the Republic of Turkey on 29 October 1923. The president of Turkey is often referred to as the Cumhurbaşkanı, meaning 'President of the People'.  Often since 1950, the presidency has been a mostly ceremonial office. However, constitutional amendments approved in the 2017 Turkish constitutional referendum turned the presidency into the executive post, effective with the 2018 general election.


Erdoğan visited Israel on 1 May 2005, a gesture unusual for a leader of a Muslim majority country. During his trip, Erdoğan visited the Yad Vashem, Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The President of Israel Shimon Peres addressed the Turkish parliament during a visit in 2007, the first time an Israeli leader had addressed the legislature of a predominantly Muslim nation.
Their relationship worsened at the 2009 World Economic Forum conference over Israel's actions during the Gaza War. Erdoğan was interrupted by the moderator while he was responding to Peres. Erdoğan stated: "Mister Peres, you are older than I am. Maybe you are feeling guilty and that is why you are raising your voice. When it comes to killing you know it too well. I remember how you killed the children on beaches..." Upon the moderator's reminder that they needed to adjourn for dinner, Erdoğan left the panel, accusing the moderator of giving Peres more time than all the other panelists combined.
                                                    
Turkey tried to run the blockade put up to stop bringing in arms
for Palestinians to use against Israel with the ship, Mavi Marmara
and induced others with ships to join them in doing so.  Israel
managed to board their ship, and the boarders were attacked
and people were killed.  
Tensions increased further following the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010. Erdoğan strongly condemned the raid, describing it as "state terrorism", and demanded an Israeli apology.  In February 2013, Erdoğan called Zionism a "crime against humanity", comparing it to Islamophobia, antisemitism, and fascism. He later retracted the statement, saying he had been misinterpreted. He said "everyone should know" that his comments were directed at "Israeli policies", especially as regards to "Gaza and the settlements." Erdoğan's statements were criticized by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, among others. In August 2013, the Hürriyet reported that Erdoğan had claimed to have evidence of Israel's responsibility for the removal of Morsi from office in Egypt. The Israeli and Egyptian governments dismissed the suggestion.
In response to the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Erdoğan accused Israel of conducting "state terrorism" and a "genocide attempt" against the Palestinians. He also stated that "If Israel continues with this attitude, it will definitely be tried at international courts."

 Erdogan, stop lying,' says Israel's Netanyahu in response to his Turkish counterpart's accusations of injustice.  Speaking directly to the camera in a video posted to Twitter, Netanyahu addressed Erdogan personally: "He who doesn't stop lying about Israel, slaughters the Kurds in his own country, and denies the terrible slaughter of the Armenian people – shouldn't preach to Israel. Erdogan, stop lying," Netanyahu said. 
                                                  
Erdogan's affront affects Hagia Sophia.
He wants to convert this Christian Church back into a Mosque.
In an interview with La Repubblica newspaper, Claudio Monge, a
Catholic priest and monk, commented on the conversion. 

Officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and formerly the Church of Hagia Sophia, is a Late Antique place of worship in Istanbul.  


"IZMIR, Turkey — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Friday issued a decree ordering the Hagia Sophia, a majestic 65,000-square-foot stone structure from the sixth century in Istanbul (formerly called Byzantium, and before that, Constantinople, to be opened for Muslim prayers. The same day, a top Turkish court had revoked the 1934 decree by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Turkish republic, which had turned it into a museum.  Istanbul, Turkey is the  most populous city in Turkey and the country's economic, cultural and historic center.

The Hagia Sophia was built as a cathedral and converted into a mosque, and then a museum. It has for centuries been the object of fierce civilizational rivalry between the Ottoman and Orthodox worlds."
While Erdoğan has declared several times being against antisemitism, he has been accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes in public  statements. According to Erdoğan, he had been inspired by novelist and Islamist ideologue Necip Fazıl Kısakürek,  a publisher (among others) of antisemitic literature.
                                             

On the table right now, Greece and Turkey are duking it out over sea power.  The Aegean dispute is a set of interrelated controversies between Greece and Turkey over sovereignty and related rights in the region of the Aegean Sea. This set of conflicts has strongly affected Greek-Turkish relations since the 1970s, and has twice led to crises coming close to the outbreak of military hostilities, in 1987 and in early 1996 and at the moment. At the moment, most countries are siding with Greece.   

What amazes me is that Turkey had actually rescued the Jews from the Byzantine Empire and treated them so much better.  Erdogen, since coming into power, has been acting like a Byzantine ruler, treating Jews and Israel terribly, for you cannot speak of Israel without speaking about Jews.  It's a matter of religion.  Judaism has not been accepted on Muslim land or even near it. The Muslims themselves have fought between the Shi'a and the Sunni and their rights and privileges.    The attitude comes from knowing one is working with a people who were once the 2nd class element; not a 1st class group.  The animosity lingers in Erdogen's mind, no doubt.  


Resource:
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/ottoman-empire
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_Turkey
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/erdogan-and-netanyahu-trade-jabs-after-turkish-presidents-unga-speech
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_entry_into_World_War_I#:~:text=Germany%20entered%20into%20World%20War,attack%20Paris%20from%20the%20north.&text=Most%20of%20the%20main%20parties%20were%20now%20at%20war.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_the_Great
https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2020/08/ottoman-empire-takes-on-poland-and.html
https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2020/07/turkeys-plan-to-liberate-al-aqsa-mosque.html
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Nasi
https://orthodoxtimes.com/head-of-interfaith-dialogue-center-in-constantinople-erdogans-affront-affects-hagia-sophia-as-crossroads-of-religions/





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